...Nothing!
Instead of a diverse matrix of cypress
swamps and marly bogs, I faced the entrances to two
Fabulous Golf Courses, and a billboard for an impending mall. Everything
natural had been cut down, landscaped, and replanted with non-native
trees and golf course grasses. The few native species present were
withering because of a combination of herbicides, fertilizers, and screwed
water regimes. It was a drought in Florida, but the 36 holes on the
Fabulous Golf Courses were doing great--nothing that a lot of ground
water pumping
can't solve. To hell with the local water table!
Just 60 minutes earlier I had been happily communing with my new
otter friend; now I looked with misery upon the reality of
what my species was so prone to do.
This obliterated site had been the best place in southern Florida to see
Utricularia simulans, now it was only some damned sand trap to
challenge golfing athletes who had travelled to experience the unique
thrill of "golfing in wild Florida". Of course, more than
just that Utricularia species was gone--so were the other
carnivores, so was the entire ecosystem. I was heartsick.
This is a part of field exploration which really sucks--you see what
humans are doing to the planet.
I spent a rest of the day taking photographs of non-native, invasive
species (Melaleuca, Schinus) that were crowding out the
last few natives, then returned to my cheap motel in
Everglades City to reflect.
